We know our imperfections all too well. And naturally our shortcomings come with a cost – including putting a strain on our relationships. At the same time, the power of love is that it offers us grace and the chance to be fully accepted despite our sin. But our biggest challenge is often in accepting this grace.
Of course, on the one hand, we should fully accept the consequences of our sins. Whether willfully or in ignorance, there’s no value in blaming others or pretending our failures don’t have an impact on those around us. Even secret sins do not happen in a vacuum and will have a ripple effect on all those around us.
All the same, love covers a multitude of sins. This is not to suggest the sins don’t matter, but that they don’t have the final word in the presence of true love. Certainly, this is the case with God who offers us the forgiveness of sins through his son Jesus Christ. And it’s the type of love we seek to practice with each other as well.
But the problem we face is often not the availability of such love, but rather our willingness to receive it. For instance, do we live in the truth and freedom of God’s grace toward us, or do we live in the fear and shame of our past? When we continue to live in sin then there’s an appropriate conviction and guilt we will experience. But we should have a confident ability to rest in God’s love as we are living in the light as he is in the light.
And this same principle plays out with each other as well. It’s not okay to keep doing things that bring harm to our relationships. But we should humble our pride and learn to accept the grace and forgiveness offered.
In the end, accept the cost and relational consequences of your sins. But learn also to accept grace. This is where we discover and practice the love God has shown toward us.
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